Damning Report On Malacca Old Town.

The popular National Geographic Traveler - NGT- magazine in its Nov/Dec 08 issue has decried at the over-development inside the Malacca’s historical enclave, and it cast a bleak future for this Malaysian historical gem.

In every corner of the historical town, tourism driven projects superseded conservation efforts and permanently marred the original cityscape. For too long now, the state exhibited a disturbing keenness to replace the town’s colorful past with artificial attractions in the forms of mechanical joy rides and flickering neon lights.

Hence, the unfavorable notion that the town has turned into a ‘Disneyland’ and commercialization has bred its ugly heads.

This alarming review by the widely circulated travel publication has inevitably thrown a spanner to the state tourism promotion plan. It is a critical wake up call for the state to revamp its approach to reap benefits from tourism and not to conjure an unsettling cocktail of happy hours with history.

The authority should also be mindful of the damages brought by these short sighted tourism projects to the historical enclave, and a theme park setting within the fragile environment is a sure way to dilute and threaten its unique features.

To rely on these man-made draw cards would only incur further wraths for damning Malacca’s historical legacy.

All stakeholders, from the Chief Minister to the lay men of the streets must acknowledge the extent of the damages caused by these overzealous attempts and take heed to arrest further the downgrading of Malacca Old Town.

A list of 109 historic places from over the world was compiled and rated in the NGT issue; Malacca was positioned at 98th. whilst Georgetown fared slightly better at 68th.

Below is the excerpt from NGT.

Malaysia: Old port of Malacca
Score: 50

"One of the most fascinating destinations in Asia. It is rich in history as a gateway into Asia for early Europeans. The old churches, China Town, and vernacular Malay houses are beautifully maintained."

"The major problem for Malacca is the incredible extent of the land reclamation that has taken place at the mouth of the historic river, now heavily developed with high-rise residential and commercial buildings. As a result, the historic connection between Malacca and the sea, which is fundamental to its significance, has been almost totally obscured."

"There is very little left in Malacca that is authentic. The city has been Disneyfied and commercialized to a degree that has to be seen to be believed."

"Landfill on the town side of the Straits has forever altered the historic connection with the Straits."

"You have to make an extra effort to find 'authentic' Malacca behind the very carefully manicured heritage facade."

Secret Weapon to Keep Our Borders

The fight for Pulau Batu Putih (PBP), or Pedra Branca as Singapore prefers it, was over even before the lawyers could face it off in The Hague. Malaysians had apparently embarked on a ‘war path’ without the one vital ammunition which could have inflicted the knockout punch on their opponents from across the causeway.

Chief negotiator and Ambassador-at-large Tan Sri Abdul Kadir Mohamad had revealed how the search for the correspondence from a British Governor in Butterworth to the Johore Temenggong seeking approval to build the Horsburgh Lighthouse was met with dead end. This futile effort was revealed in the Malaysian Parliament (The Star, May 26, 08) when lawyer cum opposition politician Karpal Singh put the government to task for the loss of PBP. He claimed it was ‘foolhardly to have the case before ICJ” without this solid piece of material.

The missing piece of the 19th. Century document proved to be the coup de grace in our argument that the rocky islet was indeed historically ours. It was the vital material to further support the claim that the British crown colony’s presence there was the outcome of Johorean courtesy.

Other parliamentarians too joined in the fray and some of their favourite punching bags were the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the National Archives (Arkib Negara). A backbencher not wanting to be outdone during the heated debate, even go so far to attribute the PBP loss to the lackadaisical attitude from the Unity, Cultural, Arts and Heritage Ministry in living up to its reputation as the guardians of Malaysia’s heritage.

The ministry’s costly oversight in securing and preserving historical documents has manifested into permanently deleting part of our southern border off from the map. While there are now frantic calls to preserve documents, maps and relics pertaining to our littoral heritage before more islands are lost, they have come too late for PBP.

At hindsight, these developments could have taught us the valuable lesson to consider another perspective on how best we can safeguard our sovereign integrity.

Policymakers no longer can justify protecting our shores by going on shopping spree and spending our hard earned ringgit on military hardware. Similarly, they must adopt fresh approach to meet our defensive needs and look at threats from a whole different angle. When we finally arrive at this juncture, the future solution to prevent encroachment to our territory lies not in the billions we spent on the Sukhoi or Scorpene, but the fight is waged closer to our hearts and minds, by protecting our heritage.

Therefore, it is not too far stretched to argue that our vibrant and rich history could well be the preferred armament to avoid more geopolitical skirmish.

Perhaps it is not too late yet for Malaysians to come with terms that our fight to settle future disputes and defend our territorial rights begins with the first step to Arkib Negara and the quality and volume of its heritage collections. In this new playing field, conservationists, museum curators and historians would join ranks with army generals and panglima in assuming the role of safeguarding our national sovereignty.

Heritage will be the weapon of choice to keep Malaysian borders intact.

May 27,08